Iconic Red Cliff Bridge perfect backdrop for Pro Challenge spectators

The Sandovals, one of the founding families of Red Cliff, gather at the famed Red Cliff Bridge to watch the Pro Challenge

As kids growing up in the mining village of Red Cliff, brothers Sam and Leonard Sandoval would climb the girders beneath the iconic arched bridge and dangle their legs over their town. They’d scale the sharp, steep cliffs adjacent to the bridge and “screw around with water balloons,” said Sam.
“Wasn’t a lot to do growing up in Red Cliff,” Leonard said.

On Thursday, the Sandovals joined another brother and sister as well as their mom, who still lives in the tiny mountain hamlet, to watch Pro Challenge racers traverse the steel arched bridge that backdropped nearly every memory of their youth.

Sporting the “Team Sandoval” jerseys and socks they wear for every Ride The Rockies – they’ve ridden RTR 18 consecutive years, the Sandoval clan was jubilant not just for their reunion but the chance to show the world their homestead.

“When I heard the race was coming through, it was a vision of mine to watch the peloton come across this bridge,” said Sam, who calls the bridge the “Silver Bridge,” after the color of the girders before the bridge was restored and painted green in 2004.
The family arrived shortly after dawn to stake out an unfettered view of the bridge. By noon, several dozen more spectators had followed their lead and erected canopies along Highway 24 at the Red Cliff Bridge.
“We just knew this was going to be our spot,” Leonard said.